Natalia Makarova’s
production of La Bayadère
(The Temple Dancer) for the London Royal
Ballet was originally created in 1980
for the American Ballet Theatre. The
original Marius Petipa Bayadère
ballet was produced for the Kirov Theatre
and in 1992, a year after the filming
of this Royal Opera House production,
Nureyev would produce his own choreography
at the Paris Opera, also based on Petipa’s
version.
La Bayadère
is set in India. Solor the brave hero,
is loved by temple dancer Nikiya who
in turn is lusted after by the High
Brahman. But Solor is seduced away from
Nikiya by the charms of Gamsatti, the
Rajah’s daughter. When Nikiya is required
to dance at their engagement party,
she cannot hide her feelings for the
fickle-hearted Solor. Realising she
has a dangerous rival, Gamsatti has
Nikiya killed. In the second Act Solor
overcome with remorse sinks into an
opium dream and sees a vision of his
lost Nikiya. Afterwards, in Act III,
he enters the temple for his marriage
with Gamsatti and again he sees the
shades of Nikiya. The gods, furious
about the assassination of Nikiya, destroy
the temple. Everybody perishes but the
spirits of Nikiya and Solor are reunited.
The ballet has a strong
part not only for a leading ballerina
but also for the supporting role of
Gamsatti, played here by Darcey Bussell
and it was for her that the audience
reserved their loudest applause at the
end of the production. Makarova’s choreography
was beautifully conceived for the lead
roles and her two leading ladies did
her proud. Both Asylmuratova and Bussell
were supremely graceful and elegant.
Irek Mukhamedov’s Solor was a consistent
delight, strong, svelte - and those
leaps and pirouettes! Almost stealing
the third act was the extraordinary
Bronze Idol gymnastics of Tetsuya Kumakawa.
The men of the corps de ballet were
very good. But the Act I Scene 2 D’Jampe
female corps de ballet was poorly co-ordinated
and the dancers looked uncomfortable
with the exotic choreography. They were
much more comfortable in classical toutous
and figures of the Act II dances.
Set designs were rather
too dark, especially in the opening
and concluding scenes around the temple.
One of the difficulties with video close-ups
is that the pictures can reveal things
normally unnoticed in the auditorium.
Asylmuratova is a very slim lady and
in one of her more voluptuous exotic
Act I dances, her rib cage and hollow
armpits were rather disconcertingly
on view; surely it might have been kinder
for wardrobe department to have designed
a more flattering costume such as a
little bolero jacket. The costumes for
the ladies corps de ballet in
Pas d’action, scene three, Act
I, were not at all flattering either.
From the point of view
of this site, there is no mention whatsoever
of the composer Ludwig Minkus in the
notes. My researches inform that Léon
Aloisius Ludwig Minkus was born in Vienna
in 1826 and specialised in ballet music.
He collaborated with Delibes on La
Source in Paris in 1866. He later
settled in Russia and wrote music for
many Petipa ballets in St Petersburg
including Don Quixote (1869)
and La Bayadère (1877).
He was Court composer of ballet music
for imperial theatres in St Petersburg
1872-85. He retired back in Vienna in
1891. He was of course unfortunate in
being overshadowed by his contemporary
Tchaikovsky. Minkus’s music for La
Bayadère, enhanced by John
Lanchberry’s sympathetic arrangements,
is well-crafted and well-suited to the
drama, if not particularly memorable.
The best of it is heard in the more
dramatic opening scenes of Act II and
the dream-like, classical corps de
ballet in that same act.
An exotic and colourful
production with some superb dancing
by the leads but with some uneven support
and rather uninspired sets and costumes.
Ian Lace
Artists of the Royal Ballet 